No matter how many times you read FAQ's, whitepapers, posts, comments, youtube videos on the subject of Steemit, the information given to the readers and viewers are about effective as showing a dog a card trick- frustrating.
Personally, I have an easier time talking to people about Steemit than I would about DoTerra products, for example. One day, I was thinking of how would it be great to have a pitch script (or elevator script, if you will) of what Steemit is and how to make someone interested in Steemit, in less than 2 minutes! Time is money and when we have to explain what a 'blockchain' is in laymen's terms, well, you've lost their attention by 80%. Plus, we all have shit to do.
actual statistics**
Let's plant steemit seeds!
So when someone asks, "So, what is this Steemit thing?"
What would you tell them? You can't expect people to be bonafide nerds! What if your friend was a Artist? Photographer? Model? How would you share steemit with creative people? We, in the crypto world, are knowledgeable and so into our world, we often forget that not everyone is. We tend to use jargon or lingo, like Steem Power and Steem Dollar values, that could potentially kill a person's interests with just that alone.
How would you describe Steemit to people in 25 words or less and with the end result being them saying "Aaah! Cool, I'll check it out!" and walk away feeling inspired. I found that the best method is to simply play dumb. I know, It's hard. It is always best to take a breath and really apply some basic language skills and formulate a dialog of your own. ;)
Dumbing it down, but never go full 'tard.
Please do not insult other people's intelligence without common knowledge of the person you are speaking to. Much like that sentence. People, don't like to appear stupid. Don't make it complicated trying to explain things in baby talk, using parables and puppet hands.
A blockchain is like a marshmallow house filled with gumdrops, and Gnomes would write in their little scrolls, everything there is to know about the gumdrop, because each gumdrop is special, just like yoooouuu....
using an overly sarcastic tone, will be the only way to sell this.
So, we all (should) know what Steemit is and we've all read the Whitepaper, right? So let's look at the Abstract on page two of the Whitepaper.
"Steem is a blockchain database that supports community building and social
interaction with cryptocurrency rewards. Steem combines concepts from
social media with lessons learned from building cryptocurrencies and their
communities. An important key to inspiring participation in any community,
currency or free market economy is a fair accounting system that consistently
reflects each person's contribution. Steem is the first cryptocurrency that
attempts to accurately and transparently reward an unbounded number of
individuals who make subjective contributions to its community."
Source: The Offical Steemit Whitepaper https://steem.io/SteemWhitePaper.pdf (page 2)
Simple enough right? Wrong! The first sentence has two words that need further explanation: Blockchain and Cryptocurrency. This, already, is a huge stumbling block. What if the person had the time to listen to you explain the concepts, only to lose focus on Steemit as a result.
The idea is to make it exciting for them to want to look into Steemit. But before you begin, one must understand that you have to be tactful and not too 'selly'. A good method is to be genuinely excited and kinda secretive about it, as if it's an inside scope. Below is a sample script that I would use:
Sample Script
Me: Hey Steve
Steve: Hey Lord.
Me: Dude, have you heard about this blogging platform called Steemit?
Steve: Um...no. Why?
Me: Well, I know you like to write political pieces for your tumblr page...how's that going by the way?
Steve: it's doing okay. I posted a new short story yesterday and got 100 likes already. It's for fun.
Me: Woah, awesome! So, Steemit is like tumblr slash Reddit, in a sense, a simple blogging platform with pretty good exposure, apparently.
Steve: Interesting.
Me: Steemit also pays out their bloggers for the original content they post with this digital currency called Steem, similar to bitcoin. I mean, Bernie Sanders is on it, for Pete's sake! So, crazy!
Steve: No shit?
Me: And it's totally free to start, people are making a ton of cash for posting their original work and I'm still trying to figure this stuff out. You should check it out for yourself!
[Me: writes down 'steemit.com' on a post-it note and gives it to Steve]
Steve: Cool! Thanks!
Me: K, gotta go, those burritos from top-side are beginning to kick in, somethin' fierce!
[ I run off to the bathroom]
Steve: Wow.
This method is the best, because it's not pushy. It gives your friend enough info to perk his interests. In this case, Steve would check it out and do some digging around about the platform. Depending on how things go, they will have their profiles up and making some posts. Sooner than later, Steve would approach me talking about Steemit and all the things they learned.
But not everyone will be like Steve (or me for that matter) and simply 'figure things out'. Some people will ask more questions about copyright and how to get the money out, things like that. It is best to go to their level of discovery and ask the right questions with them. If they ask, "So how do I take all my Steem Dollars out to cash?"
I would be like, "Jeez, thats a good question! I heard that the whole set-up process is a pain in the ass, but totally worth it in the long run. Do you want to meet-up later tonight and figure it all out over a glass of wine?"
Finally, on rare occasions, you will come across someone totally against everything. It's best not to add more fuel to the fire by defending Steemit. Psychologically, the person will only see you as a minion to 'The System' and lash out on you at every chance they get. It's best to approach things as if you too are a potential victim to this System they've concocted in their heads. With luck, they will investigate Steemit hard, only to find little to prove that the platform is as menacing as they perceived it to be. On these rare occasions, whispering phrases like, "Maybe you should share your thoughts on the issue and see what happens. That'll show them!" This simple and continuous act, may encourage the creative juices to flow. The possibilities are endless!
I'm a Psych major, I can't help it. :P
To recap:
- What would you say to a friend about Steemit?
- What would you say to a complete stranger about Steemit?
- Why do you want your friends (or strangers) to join Steemit?
Please share your thoughts, links, questions and knowledge. Upvote and Resteems are greatly appreciated.
**not actual satistics :P
UPDATED: 2016/09/30 - 13:37PST - Hit update on accident! Fixed a few writing errors, forgot 'funny' tag!